Join the HRPA Peel Chapter as Michael Smyth, Rebecca Liu, Danika Winkel and Jordynne Hislop share how to successfully anticipate and navigate legal issues, stay compliant and mitigate legal risks.
Tag: Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Ontario Public School Boards’ Association (OPSBA): 2022 Education Labour Relations and Human Resources Symposium
OPSBA’s Education Labour Relations and Human Resources Symposium is held each spring and is designed to provide professional development in the areas of labour relations and human resources to trustees, directors of education, senior human resources officials and labour relations practitioners.
Human Resources Professionals Association (HRPA), Durham Chapter: Annual Law Update
During this annual law update, nine of Hicks Morley’s partners and associates will present topics and updates in labour and employment law and host a Q&A panel to address questions directly.
Nurse Not Entitled to Communicable Disease Paid Leave If Not Required to Quarantine/Isolate
In a recent decision of significant importance to the hospital sector, Arbitrator William Kaplan held that a nurse will be entitled to communicable disease leave with pay only where they are required by hospital policy, direction of a public health authority or by law to quarantine/isolate. The paid leave does not apply to circumstances where…
Arbitrator Concludes Grievor’s Sincere Religious Beliefs Did Not Prevent Her From Complying with Employer’s COVID-19 Policy
In Oxford County v. Canadian Union of Public Employees, Local 1146, Arbitrator Brian Sheehan determined that the grievor, who refused, on the basis of her religion, to undergo rapid antigen testing in accordance with the employer’s COVID-19 policy, had not established that she had been improperly discriminated against on the basis of creed. This is…
COVID-19 Tests Are Not Genetic Tests for the Purpose of the Canada Labour Code
A recent decision of the Canada Industrial Relations Board (Board) affirms that COVID-19 tests are not considered genetic tests under the genetic testing provisions of the Canada Labour Code (Code), and that, depending on the circumstances, the issue is likely one that is appropriately dealt with under a collective agreement rather than a complaint to…
Court of Appeal Confirms Employment Contract Frustrated by Failure to Comply with Mandatory Vaccination Requirement
In Croke v. VuPoint Systems Ltd., the Ontario Court of Appeal upheld a motion judge’s decision that an employee’s failure to comply with his employer’s vaccination requirements amounted to a frustration of contract, disentitling him to wrongful dismissal damages at common law. The lower court decision was discussed in our Case in Point of March…
Looking Ahead to 2024: A Newsletter for Social Services Employers
Dear Friends, As we welcome 2024, we are back with another edition of Reaching Out. Over the last year, we have seen our social services clients continue to deal with budget challenges and labour shortages. Many are providing permanent and/or hybrid remote work arrangements, where possible, to attract and retain employees. Accordingly, we provide a…
2023 in Review – Key Legislative Updates
Last week we published “The Year in Review – 2023 Cases of Note.” This week we are back with our review of notable legislative updates from 2023 that we believe will be of interest to employers, human resources professionals and pension plan administrators. We also identify some legislation to watch for in 2024. Ontario Employment…
Arbitrator Finds Mandatory Vaccination Policy to Be Reasonable
Arbitrator Goodfellow recently released his decision in Central West Local Health Integration Network v. Canadian Union of Public Employees, Local 96. The issue before Arbitrator Goodfellow was the mandatory vaccination policy of two Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) employers—the Central West Local Health Integration Network and the Mississauga Halton Local Health Integration Network (collectively the…